cember arrives, and with it comes the usual question: who’s cooking this year? If the job lands on you, these Christmas dinner recipes cover the whole menu without the stress.
The idea is to bring back the flavors of your grandparents’ kitchen with simple steps. Better yet, you’ll find every ingredient at any Hispanic supermarket.
Below, you’ll find three main dishes, three sides, two desserts and two drinks, each with cooking times and practical tips. They all feed a crowd, and many of them keep well if you make them ahead.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Latin Main Dishes for the Center of the Table
Your main dish sets the schedule for the whole dinner, since it decides how long the oven stays busy and how big the portions are. With that in mind, we chose three very different options.
1. Roast Pork Pernil, Juicy With Crispy Skin
Pernil is a Christmas Eve classic and a star of Puerto Rican, Venezuelan and Dominican tables. Best of all, the oven does most of the work.
Marinate it overnight in the adobo, then roast it covered at 350°F for five hours, until the meat turns tender. Uncover it at the end so the skin can crisp. For an 8-pound pernil, you’ll need:
- Garlic: one whole head, peeled and crushed.
- Sour orange juice: 1 cup, or half orange juice and half lime juice.
- Seasoning: 2 tablespoons of dried oregano, plus salt and pepper to taste.
2. Bacalao a la Vizcaína With Tomato, Olives and Capers
Bacalao a la vizcaína is a salt cod stew with Spanish roots that has become a Christmas tradition in Mexico and the Caribbean. It’s served warm, and you won’t need the oven.
Keep in mind that dried salt cod comes packed in salt. To remove it, soak the fish in cold water for one to two days and change the water often.
Once the cod is ready, flake it and cook it over low heat with onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomato puree, olives, capers and diced potatoes. In about 40 minutes, the sauce thickens.
3. Roast Chicken With Sour Orange and Garlic
If your family is small, or some guests don’t eat pork, this is one of those easy Christmas recipes that saves the menu. Since it uses the same adobo as the pernil, it also shortens your shopping list.
Rub the chicken inside and out with the mix of garlic, oregano, salt and sour orange. Letting it rest in the fridge overnight helps keep the meat juicy.
The next day, roast it at 375°F for about 1¼ hours if it weighs around 5 pounds. It’s ready when a thermometer in the thigh reads 165°F, the safe minimum internal temperature for poultry set by the USDA.
Christmas Side Dishes That Complete the Plate
A good side adds color, texture or a sweet contrast to the meat. On top of that, you can make these three options ahead, so your stovetop stays free.
Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules
Arroz con gandules is one of Puerto Rico’s most popular Christmas dishes. Its key ingredient is the gandul, or pigeon pea, a small green legume similar to a bean that you’ll find canned at Hispanic stores.
First, sauté the sofrito with the ham in a heavy pot. Sofrito is a blended base of peppers, onion, garlic and herbs. Then add the pigeon peas, rice and broth and bring everything to a boil.
After that, cover the pot and cook it on low heat for 25 minutes without lifting the lid. To make six generous servings, you’ll need:
- 3 cups of unwashed medium-grain rice
- 1 can (15 oz) of pigeon peas with their liquid
- ½ cup of homemade or store-bought sofrito
- ½ cup of diced cooking ham
- 4 cups of hot chicken broth
Creamy, Sweet Christmas Apple Salad
This dish is a must at Christmas dinner in Mexican homes. Kids love it because it pairs fruit with a sweet cream, so it tastes almost like dessert.
To make it, dice four apples and mix them with chunks of canned pineapple, raisins and walnuts. Then add a few drops of lime juice so the apples don’t turn brown.
Next, stir in half a can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup of cream, folding gently. Finally, chill it for two hours so the cream sets and the apples stay crisp.
Potato Salad With Carrots and Peas
In many Latin countries, this dish goes by ensalada rusa, or Russian salad, and it shows up in almost every home on Christmas Eve. Its mild flavor goes well with the chicken, the salt cod and the pernil.
First, boil the potatoes and carrots until they’re tender but still hold their shape. Then drain them and let them cool completely, because heat breaks down the mayonnaise.
Once they’re cool, dice them, fold in the peas and the mayonnaise, and season with salt.
Homemade Desserts to Close Christmas Eve
After a big meal, dessert should be light, cold and easy to serve. That’s why we picked two Christmas dinner recipes that you can finish a day ahead.
Caramel Flan in a Water Bath
Flan is one of the best-loved desserts at a Latin Christmas dinner, and you can make it with what you already have at home. Before you start, preheat the oven to 350°F.
For the caramel, melt 1 cup of sugar over medium heat until it turns amber, then coat the bottom of your mold with it. Next, blend five eggs with a can of sweetened condensed milk, a can of evaporated milk and vanilla.
Pour the mixture into the mold and bake it in a water bath. To do this, set the mold inside a pan of hot water. After 50 minutes, let it cool and refrigerate it overnight.
Arroz con Leche With Cinnamon and Lemon Peel
Arroz con leche, the Latin version of rice pudding, is the most budget-friendly of these Christmas dinner recipes. Its cinnamon aroma fills the house, and you can serve it cold or warm, whichever you prefer.
Start by cooking 1 cup of rice with a cinnamon stick and a strip of lemon peel. Once the grains turn soft, add the milk a little at a time over low heat.
To finish, sweeten it with condensed milk or sugar until it turns creamy. Keep in mind that it thickens as it cools, so take it off the heat while it’s still a little loose.
Christmas Drinks to Toast With Your Family
A traditional drink turns dinner into a celebration and keeps the family at the table for hours. Unlike the usual sodas, these two options taste like Latin holiday traditions.
Creamy, Ice-Cold Puerto Rican Coquito
Coquito is a coconut and cinnamon drink similar to eggnog, and families often give it as a gift in bottles. It traditionally includes rum, although the alcohol-free version is just as popular.
The big advantage is that it doesn’t need the stove. Just blend everything for two minutes, bottle it and chill it so you can serve it ice cold. To make about six cups, you’ll need:
- 15 oz of cream of coconut, the sweetened kind used for cocktails
- 13.5 oz of coconut milk
- 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup of white rum, for the adult version
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg
Mexican Christmas Fruit Ponche
This hot fruit punch is part of the holiday season and Christmas Eve in Mexico. As it simmers slowly on the stove, it fills the house with its aroma.
Its base includes guava, apple, sugarcane, prunes and tejocotes, small yellow fruits sold at Mexican markets. Everything is sweetened with piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar sold in cones.
To make it, simmer the fruit for 40 minutes in water with cinnamon, dried hibiscus flowers and the piloncillo. Then serve it piping hot, with pieces of fruit in every cup.
Mistakes That Can Spoil Your Christmas Dinner Recipes
If you’ve already made one of these Latin Christmas dinner menus and weren’t happy with the result, the fix is easy. Here are the most common slip-ups.
Why Pernil Turns Out Dry and How to Avoid It
Pernil dries out when it roasts uncovered from the start or at too high a temperature. In that case, the surface browns too fast while the inside loses its moisture.
The solution is to keep your roast pernil covered for almost the entire cooking time. That way, the steam stays trapped, and the meat cooks slowly until it turns completely tender.
How to Plan Your Kitchen So Everything Arrives Hot
The most common Christmas Eve slip has nothing to do with ingredients. It comes down to planning, because if you cook everything at once, some dishes will go cold before you serve them.
To avoid that, spread the work over two days. Make the cold sides, the drinks and the desserts the day before, since they taste better after a night in the fridge.
That way, on the day of the dinner, your oven is free for the main dish. For guests who arrive early, this Bikini holiday sandwich by Doreen Colondres is an easy bite while the main dish finishes.
To finish with a flourish, decorate your dessert with edible flowers, which add color and a touch of flavor.
Your Latin Christmas Table, Ready to Celebrate
With these Christmas dinner recipes, you have the whole evening covered, from the main dish to the toast. And since you get a head start on the work, you can enjoy the night with the people you love.
Mix and match the dishes to fit your guests, your budget and your family’s traditions. Looking for more holiday ideas? Explore Abasto’s recipe section and find your next favorite dish.